24 Day 3 point 5
by Bauer4Ever
Summary: Set between seasons 3 and 4. As a special advisor to Secretary of Defense James Heller, Jack Bauer begins another unforgettable day, forced to deal with a terrorist attack on American soil and a heated international incident. Please read & review.
1. 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM

**24**

**SEASON 3.5**

**The following takes place between 07:00 PM and 08:00 PM.**

_07:00:00 ... 07:00:01 ... 07:00:02 ..._

The sun had finished setting over the Pentagon, the central command center for all United States military forces across the globe. It was from this building that whole wars could be launched and decided with the push of a few buttons. In an empty corridor, a man dressed in a black suit and carrying a simple black briefcase walked towards the exit, his face obscured by shadows.

In the Persian Gulf, onboard the aircraft carrier U.S.S. _Abraham Lincoln_, four F/A-18F attack fighters were raised into launch positions on the deck of the massive floating city. Under cover of night, the powerful planes had already been loaded with ordinance that was appropriate for the mission that they would soon undertake. Their pilots were ready and the planes were ready, all they waited on now was the final order to attack.

As he continued down the corridor from his office at the Pentagon, Jack Bauer knew that, even though he was leaving, his day was far from over. He approached the security checkpoint and drew the attention of the military guard, an Army corporal dressed in an appropriate uniform. Having learned this routine over the past three months, Jack handed the man his Department of Defense identification card. Looking him over once, the man slid Bauer's ID through a card reader. When it flashed clear, the guard handed him his ID back. "Have a good evening Mr. Bauer," the guard spoke in a monotone voice.

"Thank you," Jack replied as he replaced his ID in his pocket and walked through the entrance to the parking garage. Walking towards his car, he reached into his pocket and removed his keys. As he clicked the unlock button on the keyless entry remote, he felt the vibration of his cellular phone silently ringing. As he reached for the door handle of his silver Ford Expedition with one hand, he removed the phone from his suit jacket pocket with the other. "This is Bauer," he said into the phone as he flipped it open.

_"Jack,"_ said the voice of Secretary of Defense James Heller on the other end of the phone. _"This is Secretary Heller," _Jack did not need for his boss to identify himself, already recognizing his voice. _"Is everything in place?"_

"Yes Mr. Secretary," Jack turned the keys on the ignition in his vehicle and began to pull out of the parking garage. The cellular phones they were using were issued by the Department of Defense and secured with the latest and highest levels of encryption protocols which allowed them to speak freely and without concern over possible eavesdropping. "The F-18s are fired up; they're just waiting on the attack order from the president."

In a corridor at the White House, just outside of the Oval Office, Secretary Heller continued his conversation with Jack Bauer, a man who over the past three months had become one of his closest and most trusted advisors and aides. "I'll be briefing the president in just a few minutes as soon as he's finished with a scheduled meeting with the French ambassador," Heller paused for a brief moment as a White House aide walked by, not wanting his conversation overheard by anyone. "You're positive about the intelligence we've received?"

"As positive as we can be Mr. Secretary," Jack replied as he made a turn onto the highway heading for his apartment in downtown Washington D. C. "N. S. A. would have liked more time to be able to verify the intelligence but given the short window that we have to move on this information, time is unfortunately a luxury we don't have at the moment."

The secretary sighed. He knew Bauer was right of course but that wasn't the thing that he wanted to hear at the moment nor was it the thing that President Keeler would want to hear when he briefed him on the developing situation. "Alright then Jack, since you can't tell me that the N. S. A. is certain about the intelligence, then give me your honest opinion about it."

Jack Bauer took a moment. In his short three months working alongside Secretary Heller at the Pentagon, the secretary had asked his opinion on a variety of subjects but it was rare for the secretary to ask his opinion on the validity of intelligence information. "In my honest opinion Mr. Secretary this is a chance we cannot afford to miss. If the intelligence is accurate then we have to move on it."

"And what if it's not accurate Jack?"

Bauer did not considering that as a possibility but the answer to the secretary's question was one they both already knew. "Then we're about to take hostile action against an allied middle eastern country."

Secretary Heller considered the situation. As he momentarily paused in his conversation with Bauer, he saw the French ambassador emerge from the oval office with the president's secretary at his side. "Mr. Secretary," president's secretary, a woman in her late thirties with sandy blonde hair and lightly tanned skin, said as she approached him. "President Keeler can see you now sir."

"Thank you Leslie," Heller replied, pulling the phone slightly away from his mouth for just a brief second. He put the phone back to his mouth, "Jack, I'm going in to brief the president now. What's our time table look like if and when he gives the order?"

Bauer had worked with the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon to plan the attack and he knew the time table as well as anyone else did along with the exact details of the attack plan. "The F-18s will be in the air within five minutes of President Keeler giving the attack order. After they're airborne it will take approximately twenty-five minutes for them to be in strike range of their target. After the strike is complete, N.S.A. satellites should be able to give us almost instant preliminary confirmation of the target's destruction."

"Good enough," Heller answered plainly. "I'll call you back after I brief the president," just as Jack acknowledged, Heller stopped him from hanging up. "Oh and Jack, are you still planning to attend the party fundraiser tonight?" Jack had almost forgotten about the formal event in Washington D. C. in approximately one hour that Secretary Heller had asked him to attend.

"I wasn't sure if it would be appropriate with the military action we're possibly about to undertake," Jack sidestepped the situation. He never considered himself to be very good and politics, handshaking or rubbing elbows with campaign contributors for the president. He certainly didn't want to spend the evening being introduced as the newest rising star at the Department of Defense.

"If I'm going to be there and the president is going to be there, you're going to be there Jack," Heller spoke as though it was an order. Not waiting for any further objections from Bauer, Heller decided it was time to conclude the conversation. "I'll call you after I speak with the president." With no further words, Secretary Heller flipped his cellular phone closed, placed it back into his jacket pocket and proceeded into the oval office.

_07:07:54 ... 07:07:55 ... 07:07:56 ..._

In a rundown house in a nearby suburb of Washington D. C., Kalik Saed sat in silent meditation. Everything that he had been preparing for during the last three months was now at hand. In less than one hour, his faith would be put to the test and, if called upon to make the ultimate sacrifice, he would gladly do so for paradise would be waiting for him at the end of his long journey. His comrades, his brothers were also preparing themselves, in prayer as he was doing. In his prayers, he asked for strength for himself and for his brothers but more than that, he asked that their great mission would be successful.

"Kalik," the voice of one of his brothers from the door pulled him away from his silent prayers. "It is time to get ready," Kalik, who had been kneeling on the floor, rose to his feet and walked towards the door with a purpose in every one of his steps. After walking down the creaking wood stairs to the basement of the house, the two joined the others. There were no words spoke between them as they proceeded to gather their weapons and other equipment while they covered themselves in black clothing and finally black masks.

The Washington D. C. office of the Counter Terrorist Unit (C. T. U.) was still busy with activity even at this point of the day. Although secret service and metro police handled the majority of the security for the president, cabinet members and members of congress, the Washington office of C. T. U. had no shortage of duties to attend to, including assisting secret service with security for special events.

One such special event was the fundraiser scheduled to take place at the Marriot in Washington D. C. in less than one hour. A fundraise that the president, secretary of defense along with several other cabinet members and members of congress were scheduled to attend. Not to mention various wealthy individuals from across the country that had paid high dollar for their chance to dine with and mingle with high-level elected officials.

Susan Walker was the senior agent on duty this evening and had been tasked by the director of Washington C. T. U. with ensuring that the fundraiser ran smoothly. Although C. T. U. had not received any credible threats against the fundraiser, president or any of the other officials attending, thing were never taken lightly when it came to the security of the president, especially when he would be attending public events. Walking through the main operations center, Susan could not help but feel slightly nervous. She did not doubt the abilities of the secret service or their own agents, it was something else.

Susan walked towards the computer terminal of Jaelyn Vale, a young woman who in a short two years time, had become one of the senior and most highly trusted analysts at C. T. U. As Susan looked at Vale, a young woman in her twenties with a toned body, soft white skin, blonde hair, baby blue eyes and dressed in a power suit and skit, she could tell that she was ambitious. "What's our status?" Susan asked plainly.

"Agent Winters has deployed an undercover team to supplement secret service personnel on site at the fundraiser," Vale began to give her a basic rundown of information Susan was likely to already know most of. "Still nothing to indicate that there will be any terrorist attempts made on the fundraiser or any of the VIPs."

"Is Winters coordinating with secret service?" Susan knew that Christian Winters, one of their top field agents, understood the protocols of these situations but she also knew how apt the man was at breaking protocols.

"Yeah, he's working with the lead agent on site."

"Okay," Susan still did not like something about this situation and she was still unsure what that something was. "Tell Winters I want him and the other agents to keep a constant communications channel open with the secret service and get us patched into the channel. If you need me I'll be at station three." With that Susan walked off for a computer terminal across the room from where Jaelyn was working.

Once Jaelyn was sure that Susan or anyone else wasn't looking over her back anymore, she returned to her computer screen, minimizing a window that was open that contained the current deployments of secret service and C. T. U. agents at the site of the fundraiser. Clicking on another window which she had minimized and that had no title, she resumed inputting a complex string of computer code.

_07:11:22 ... 07:11:23 ... 07:11:24 ..._

_07:15:17 ... 07:15:18 ... 07:15:19 ..._

In the basement of a rundown house, eight men dressed from head to two in black robes continues loading weapons ranging from rocket propelled grenades to assault rifles to pistols. Their time was drawing closer.

At the Washington office of C. T. U. various agents and analysts continued working on security measures for the fundraiser as well as addressing and reviewing other issues.

In the oval office, the secretary of defense waited for a reaction from the president on the news he had just been given.

"Let me get this straight James," President Keeler nervously paced around the oval office. With everything else that he had on his plate today, the news his secretary of defense had just given him was not something that he had exactly wanted to hear. "You want me to authorize an attack against a Middle Eastern country that has always proven to be an ally of ours against terrorism, based on intelligence that was received less than an hour ago and that cannot be reliably verified in the amount of time we have to act on it?" Both the volume and pace of the president's speech increased as he spoke.

Seated on a couch in the oval office across from the president's desk, Secretary Heller could not deny that the scenario did not sound good. Still, he trusted that launching the attack was the right call and it was his job to convince the president of that. "What I am asking you to do Mr. President is authorize a precision strike against a building containing the leaders of no less than six terrorist organizations from around the globe. Yes, this building is in a friendly country but quite frankly Mr. President, if we wait for authorities there to act, it may be too late."

President Keeler sat back down at his desk and rested an elbow on it. What Secretary Heller was asking him to do essentially amounted to declaring war on a foreign country, even if they could be convinced that it was a strike against terrorist leaders, there would be untold diplomatic fallout from such an event. "Explain to me why we can't at least consult with the leaders of the country first."

"Mr. President, the intelligence that the N. S. A. intercepted suggested a meeting between the leaders of these terrorist organizations to take place during this hour. That same intelligence also suggested that the meeting would last no longer than an hour," Heller did not like having to make such a big argument for something that time was working against them on. "By the time we are able to communicate with and debate this with their leaders, it'll be too late; our window of opportunity will have passed."

President Keeler did not like anything about this situation. Still, he was beginning to see the point his secretary of defense was making, as much as he didn't like it. Cutting the head off of six terrorist organizations would be a dramatic blow and something that at least the citizens of the United States would support. "Tell me the attack plan."

Jack Bauer had just arrived at his apartment and was in the process of hurriedly changing from the suit he wore to work into a formal tuxedo to wear to the party fundraiser that the secretary expected to attend. Even though he did not care much for those political events, something about the way his life was unfolding made him smile. For the first time in a long time, he was beginning to feel as though not going to another agency for field work was the right decision.

As Jack was putting the cufflinks on his white collared shirt, the phone on his bed rang, not his Department of Defense cellular phone but his personal one. Before flipping it open, he glanced at the call ID displayed on the screen and saw 'Kim' flashing across it. "Hello," he flipped the phone open, placed it to his ear and answered.

_"Hey dad," _he smiled in recognition of his daughter's voice.

"Hey sweetie," Jack held the phone against his ear with his shoulder while he resumed snapping cufflinks on. "What's up?" He was grateful to get a phone call where he did not have to hear about defense budgets, troop deployments or hypothetical war scenarios.

_"I didn't really want anything, just calling to see how you've been. It's been a while since I've heard from you,"_ Jack could not deny that it had been some time since he had called his daughter, wanting to give her and Chase some time alone and staying busy with his own duties at the Department of Defense.

"I'm fine Kim, just been a little bit busy lately," as much as he wanted to spend the next hours catching up with her over the phone, he knew that he did not have the time for that either. "Listen Kim, I've got to be somewhere here in just a few minutes but I've got some free time tomorrow afternoon. We can catch up then."

_"Okay," _after everything her father had been through, Kim could not help but hide the concern in her voice. _"Dad," _she paused for a second. _"I love you and I miss you."_

For the first time in a long while, Jack Bauer could believe those words coming from his daughter. Their relationship had been rocky over the years but now, like many things in his life, finally seemed to be on the mend. "I miss you too," he suddenly wished that he could blow off going to the fundraiser for entirely different reasons than he originally had. "I'll talk to you tomorrow sweetie." Kim said her goodbye and Jack flipped the phone closed.

As Jack collected his black tuxedo jacket from the closet and was walking for the door, another phone rang, this one his Department of Defense cellular phone in the pocket of his trousers. Not looking at the caller ID display, he flipped it open. "This is Bauer."

Secretary Heller had just stepped into his limousine headed for a brief stop at his residence to change clothes before proceeding to the party fundraiser. "Jack, the president has authorized the air strike," the secretary did not waste anytime in getting to the point of his phone call. "I've already notified Admiral MacDonald and the F-18s should be in the air any minute now."

"Is the president making any changes to his itinerary?" Jack did not discount the possibility that the president would postpone the party fundraiser as a result of the impending military aciton.

"No, he thinks it's important that we proceed normally. The president will be placing a call to the prime minister of the country where the strike is to take place just after the F-18s drop their payload, he's hoping to avoid a diplomatic incident by explaining that it was a strike against a terrorist target," the secretary had those hopes as well. "He also has his speech writers re-writing his speech to discuss terrorism and to include a mention of the strike in it." The secretary could tell that Jack was as concerned as everyone else about the possible diplomatic fallout from the attack and shifted gears to more urgent business. "I've told Admiral MacDonald that you're the DoD point man on this one Jack, he'll be contacting you with verification of a successful strike."

"Understood Mr. Secretary," Jack locked the door to his apartment and proceeded down the hallway to the elevator. "I'll see you at the fundraiser in a few minutes."

_07:21:03 ... 07:21:04 ... 07:21:05 ..._

In his private bedroom of the White House, President John Keeler was finishing changing into his tuxedo and catching a few minutes of CNN on the television. His mind still raced with the potential consequences of what he had just given the authorization to do. The commentator on CNN was reporting that public opinion polls showed his job approval rating at 74, up six points from a previous poll, largely as a result of an aggressive domestic agenda that had created 30,000 new jobs during his first months in the presidency. He wondered what his approval rating would be in the morning after launching military action against a foreign country based on unreliable intelligence.

A knock on the door drew him away from his thoughts. "Come in," he answered without getting up from the bed. His son stepping through the door when it opened brought a welcome smile to his face. "Kevin, I figured you'd be on your way by now," for two days his son, a senior in college at Georgetown had been telling him for two days about the date he had with a young woman named Candace whom Kevin recounted as the prettiest girl at the school.

"About to go pick her up, just wanted to drop in and say hi, hadn't see you today," Kevin had a habit of being able to tell when something was bothering his father after barely talking to him at all. "Is everything alright?" Kevin jumped immediately to the point.

Knowing that it was hard to hide anything from his son, President Keeler remained silent, stood and looked his son in the eye. "I had to do something a little while ago that I didn't like doing. I just hope it's the right decision." Before his son could reply, Keeler collected his tuxedo jacket and started towards the door. "You'd better get going, don't want to be late, this girl sounds like she's quite the catch."

"I'll see you when I get back," Kevin said as he followed his dad out the door and started down the hallway towards the exit where his car was parked.

"I have a feeling I'll be awake," they parted ways as the president went down a different corridor towards where the motorcade was waiting to take him to the fundraiser. He knew that after the fundraiser, a significant portion of the rest of his night was likely to be spent communicating with foreign leaders whose respective intelligence services would report the military strike by the United States.

As he approached the waiting presidential limousine and was greeted by the slew of flashing red and blue lights from police and secret service vehicles around him, secret service Agent Aaron Pierce opened the limousine door as he approached. The two exchanged a brief greeting as the president sat in limousine, followed by his national security advisor Elizabeth Griffon, his press secretary Stephen Blakeney and his chief of staff Robert Franklin. As Agent Pierce closed the door to the limousine, he raised his wrist to his mouth and spoke into the microphone concealed beneath the sleeve of his jacket. "Gambit is moving." Pierce took his seat in the front of the limo next to the driver as the motorcade began to pull away.

_07:28:11 ... 07:28:12 ... 07:28:13 ..._

_07:32:38 ... 07:32:39 ... 07:32:40 ..._

Escorted by a line of police and secret service vehicles with flashing red and blue lights on both ends, the presidential motorcade moved slowly along a predetermined route through the streets of Washington D. C.

Driving in his silver Ford Expedition, Jack Bauer neared the Marriot in downtown Washington D. C. and readied his Department of Defense identification as well as his invitation to the fundraiser which would allow him through security.

Inside the banquet room of the Washington D. C. Marriot, special agent Christian Winters with the Washington office of C. T. U. stood by a buffet line of hors d'oeuvres as he watched the entrance to the room several feet away. C. T. U. and plainclothes secret service agents were scattered throughout the room as the guests and VIPs slowly began to arrive. They appeared to be nothing more than guests themselves, their firearms concealed by their tuxedo jackets on in their purses in the case of female agents. They communicated via highly sophisticated communications devices concealed in their ears.

From across the room, he made eye contact with his partner Alexis Molina, an agent who had just been assigned after completing a prolonged undercover operation for the C. I. A. She was on temporary assignment to Washington D. C. C. T. U. pending her permanent transfer from C. I. A. to another domestic office of C. T. U. Winters stared at her for a brief second before returning his gaze to the door.

She was chatting casually with a young man Winters did not recognize, likely the son of one of the various political donors who had already arrived. No doubt he noticed the same things about Alexis, or Lexie as she like to be called, that Christian noticed, how the beautiful spaghetti strap green sequin dress she wore accented her tan skin and showed off her fit body. Winters put those thoughts out of his mind, they had their duties to attend to and he knew nothing could get in the way of those. With many of the members of congress and other high-level contributors now beginning to arrive, he knew that the president and secretary of defense would not be far behind.

Jaelyn Vale continued working on the lines of code that she was inputting into her computer. Having graduated at the top of her class from M. I. T. her computer programming skills had her in demand from companies such as Microsoft, Apple, Dell and a dozen others just in the United States, not to mention companies and overseas government agencies. C. T. U. however presented her with the opportunities other agencies and private companies did not.

Susan Walker could not help but notice Vale typing busily at her keyboard. It was nothing that wasn't expected except for the fact that they were currently running very few active protocols and Vale was currently tasked with coordinating communications between C. T. U. and secret service. Her curiosity getting the better of her, Susan walked towards Vale's station and stood behind her back, able to see that she was in the process of writing some complex computer code. "Aren't you supposed to be working on those communications protocols?" Susan asked as she tried to make some sense of the code with her limited computer knowledge.

Vale was taken by surprise by Susan who had walked up from behind her without her knowing. She was sure that Susan wouldn't understand the code she was writing but minimized the window before allowing Susan to see too much of her work. She then brought the window containing the deployments of the agents at the fundraiser and communications protocols back up on her screen. "It's right here, everything is running smoothly right now."

Susan was becoming suspicious and Vale could tell. While Susan doubted that Vale was any kind of traitor or terrorist, she did not doubt the young woman's ambition or willingness to go over people's heads to get what she wanted. "So what is that computer program you're working on then?" Susan gave up that she did not understand the code that she saw on Vale's screen.

"Just something Sutton asked me to work on in my spare time," considering her options, mentioning the name of the director of the D. C. office of C. T. U. would either get Susan off of her back or get her more on it.

Susan considered what Vale had told her for a brief second. "And what exactly is it?" As the agent in charge of C. T. U., at least for this evening, she felt as though she did have a right to know what her subordinates were working on.

Knowing that she wasn't going to cease the interrogation by Susan until she told her what was going on, Vale conceded. "It's a new firewall and anti-virus protection system, once I'm finished it'll make our servers more secure against possible intrusion or attack."

Susan did not like that answer and was becoming more and more suspicious as it seemed like Vale was just trying to give her what she wanted to get her off of her back. "DoD has dedicated software engineers that handle things like that, not to mention that the majority of our software is purchased from the private sector."

Becoming frustrated, Vale turned away from her computer to face Susan. "And I can guarantee you that none of those software engineers from either DoD or the private sector are near as good as I am. Now if you don't trust me, fine. Call Sutton and he'll be happy to confirm what I said," Vale played her last card and left it up to Susan.

"Just make sure you're monitoring those comm. Protocols," Susan said as she walked away, returning to the computer station where she was working monitoring the deployments of the undercover and uniforms agents at the fundraiser. She wasn't going to disturb the director at home for something as minor as that, not yet at least.

After scanning the room to make sure no one else was watching her, Vale brought the window containing her code back up on her screen and continued working.

_"We estimate that the F-18s will be within range of their target within the next ten minutes," _speaking to Jack Bauer on his cellular phone, Admiral Edward MacDonald in the combat operations center of the U. S. S. _Abraham Lincoln_ delivered an update on the status of the strike mission. _"Each plane has been armed with two five hundred pound JDAM equipped bombs and the targeting coordinates have been locked into the planes computers."_

Standing across the room from the entrance, Bauer watched as Secretary Heller entered the banquet room and proceeded into a crowd of people wanting to greet him. As he watched Heller and listened to the admiral's report, he noted the secretary giving a hug to an attractive woman in a red dress. Knowing the secretary would have questions for him, Jack pulled himself back to the matter at hand. "How long will it take us to get confirmation of the target's destruction?"

_"N. S. A. has moved a significant portion of its satellite surveillance to cover the target,"_ Admiral MacDonald explained. _"We will have almost immediately satellite confirmation that the target has been destroyed however it may take a few hours to get a complete battle damage assessment from our people on the ground."_

As he listened, Jack noticed that Secretary Heller was making his way towards him with the woman in the red dress by his side. "Thank you Admiral MacDonald, please get back to me the second you have confirmation of a successful strike." Leaving his final instructions, Jack flipped his phone shut as the secretary approached.

"Jack," Secretary Heller said as he approached him. "I haven't had a chance to introduce my daughter to you. Jack Bauer, Audrey Raines," he said gesturing to the younger woman in the red dress by his side.

Jack took her hand politely. "It's nice to finally meet you, you're father's told me a great deal about you," Jack recalled various light night meeting where the secretary would mention some random fact about his daughter.

"Probably not as much as he's told me about you," Audrey replied with a smile and slight laugh. Every time she had talked to her father over the last few months he had something to say about his bright and sharp new advisor.

"I'm glad you two finally have a chance to meet," the secretary continued. "Audrey had been conducting a tour of military bases across the country and overseas on my behalf, now that she's back, you two will be working closely together at DoD."

"I look forward to it," Jack said politely.

Secretary Heller briefly turned his attention towards his daughter. "Audrey, I almost forgot to ask, where's Paul?" At the mention of his name, Jack recalled the secretary having previously mentioned Audrey's husband on a few occassions.

"Some business trip," Audrey replied half-heartedly. "You know Paul, always travelling." Heller, knowing his daughter, felt there was something more to the story but decided to let it go for now as there were other matters at hand.

"Jack, have you heard anything from Admiral MacDonald?" Like Bauer, Heller was nervous about the action they were undertaking and wanted to be kept constantly updated on any new information, no matter how insignificant.

After nodding to indicate yes and surveying the room for a moment to ensure that no one was listening in on their conversation, Jack explained further. "The F-18s are in the air, they should be within launch range in the next," he quickly checked his watch. "About eight minutes. We should have satellite confirmation of the target's destruction within a matter of minutes after the air strike is complete."

"Alright," Heller replied, also taking care to make sure that no one in the room was eavesdropping on their conversation. He did not like discussing such business in areas like this but there were times when they had no other option. "Then let's have a drink and hope that everything goes smoothly." Together, Secretary Heller, Audrey and Jack strolled towards the bar.

More had joined Kalik Saed and the others in the basement of the house. There were now fourteen in all and they had finished gathering their weapons and equipment. One of their phones rang and they were given their final instructions. Once the phone call had ended, they moved to the garage where they split up into two, older model vans. Pulling away from the residence and driving down seperate streets, their paths were now set.

_07:41:19 ... 07:41:20 ... 07:41:21 ..._

_07:45:42 ... 07:45:43 ... -7:45:43 ..._

Above the clouds in the dark, early morning sky, four F/A-18F attack fighters maneuvered towards their target, now only minutes away from unleashing an incomparable amount of destructive power against a meeting of terrorist leaders.

On the streets of Washington D. C. two black vans moved purposefully towards their target, their occupants prepared for the battle that was about to come in mere minutes.

In another part of Washington D. C. the presidential limousine escorted by a vast motorcade moved slowly along its predetermined route.

"_I wish we had more time for both of our intelligence agencies to verify the accuracy of this intelligence data Mr. President,"_ speaking on the other end of a highly secured phone line, the prime minister of the middle east country that President Keeler had authorized the strike against did not like what he was hearing.

President Keeler, seated in the presidential limousine with his chief of staff and national security advisor had just called the prime minister to inform him about the military strike against a target in his country due to take place any minute. He considered it a gamble to give the prime minister advanced warning but it was one he felt was necessary if they wished to retain the country as an ally. "As do I Mr. Prime Minister unfortunately circumstances aren't going to allow us that time. Our intelligence was clear on the fact that this meeting was going to take no more than an hour. If we try to spend more time verifying the intelligence, we're going to lose our window of opportunity to deal a crippling blow to terrorist organizations world wide."

The prime minister conceded. He could not argue with the logic the president was using but that did not mean he had to like it. "Next time Mr. President, please show me enough respect to make this telephone call before my radar stations are tracking your warplanes in our airspace." He had been alerted by his military commanders that the American planes were in their territory approximately five minutes before receiving the call from President Keeler. The official line from the American military commanders at the Pentagon was that it was just a routine patrol, something American planes had done hundreds of times in the past.

"Mr. Prime Minister, it is not our intent to antagonize or anger your country," President Keeler played the diplomatic role well, knowing this was a tense and difficult situation. He tried to imagine what his response would be if the leader of a foreign country had just told him that they had ordered a military strike on American soil. "But we made a commitment to destroy global terrorism and that is a commitment we will honor. We cannot let this target pass us by."

Sitting in his stately office, surrounded by his top aides, the prime minister could not disagree. While many of his aides supported the actions the United States was undertaking, if their intelligence was genuine, others called it an act of aggression, calling for him to immediately shoot down the American warplanes. "Mr. President," the prime minister spoke after a few seconds of silent deliberation. "If there are terrorist leaders in the building you have targeted, then your action will receive the complete support of my government."

It was not hard for President Keeler to recognize what the prime minister had done; leaving himself an out in the event that it was later learned their intelligence was incorrect. Still, Keeler could at least count it as a small victory that the prime minister was willing to give some measure of support to their plan. "Thank you Mr. Prime Minister, I hope that our people are able to work together in the next few hours to verify the accuracy of our intelligence."

"You will have our cooperation," the prime minister concluded and hung-up the phone.

Sipping a glass of champagne and casually chatting with James Heller and his daughter Audrey Raines, Jack Bauer could not help but have his mind focused on other matters. He could not help but feel that he should be somewhere else, waiting for the results of the attack, not standing at a party waiting on a phone call. That was another indication of how his life had changed. Taking a second to glance at his watch, he knew that by now the bombs would be falling.

"So Jack," he was pulled away from his thoughts by Audrey speaking to him. "Dad told me that you used to work for C. T. U. in field operations?" That made him think about a whole different time in his life, filled with memories that he mostly wanted to forget.

Before he could reply, the vibrating of his DoD cellular phone in his jacket pocket demanded his attention. "Excuse me," he said as he retrieved the phone, flipped it open and put it to his ear. "This is Bauer."

From the dimly lit combat information center onboard the U. S. S. _Abraham Lincoln_, Admiral MacDonald watched as real time satellite information was fed to a monitor from an N. S. A. satellite stationed in space above the area where his F-18s had just struck. "Mr. Bauer this is Admiral MacDonald, we have satellite confirmation of a successful strike," he paused for a moment as the images on the screen refreshed. "The target appears to have been completely destroyed but it's going to take at least a couple of hours to get a more firm assessment from our assets on the ground."

Jack felt a sudden sense of relief. The success of the attack they had planned was almost entirely guaranteed but there were always things that could go wrong no matter how well the action was planned. "Thank you Admiral, please keep me updated on any new information," Jack then flipped his phone closed and placed it back in his jacket pocket.

"Was that MacDonald?" Secretary Heller asked almost as soon as Jack flipped the phone closed, almost certain that it was the admiral who Jack had just finished talking to.

Bauer nodded. "The strike appears to have been successful."

"The president will be pleased to hear that," Heller checked his own watch. "He should be arriving in the next couple of minutes; we'll pass the news on to him then. How long until we can expect a confirmation on the targets we were after?"

"At least a couple of hours, it's going to require some investigation before we can be sure that the targets were in that building," now, Jack could only hope that the intelligence they had based the attack on was accurate and that they had not just declared war on a friendly country for no reason.

Judging by the sudden movement of people towards the entrance to the banquet room, Jack could only assume that the president was now arriving.

As Kevin Keeler drove through the streets of Washington D. C. in his Ford Mustang convertible, with Candace, a gorgeous blonde coed at his side, he considered that the only thing that could make this evening any better was if he did not have the two Suburbans filled with secret service personnel following behind him. While the security concerns that came with his father's office did not bother him, it did make it difficult to get any time alone with his date.

Glancing at Candace's smiling face, he decided to focus on her rather than their heavily armed escort. "I think you're going to like this restaurant, it's not the fanciest but it's got some of the best Thai food in this whole town."

"Wow, you mean the son of the President of the Untied States knows about a place that isn't fancy?" Candace asked, her tone flirtatious and joking.

Kevin smiled. "Yeah, just a couple." He brought his car to a stop at a red light and patiently waited, taking a couple seconds to glance over at Candace. A million thoughts raced through his head as he stared into her blue eyes and she stared back at him.

In a split second, all of those thoughts disappeared. A deafening explosion came from behind them and a fireball lit up the night sky. Jerking around to see what had happened, he saw the Suburban that was farthest behind them enveloped in flames. As he watched the chaos behind them, he heard the sound of tires squealing in front of him.

A black van came to a sudden stop immediately in front of Kevin's car, blocking him from making any quick escape. The side doors of the van flung open and men dressed in black robes, their faces covered in black masks and carrying assault rifles emerged. "Get down!" Kevin screamed and through his arm around Candace, pulling her to the floor of the car as automatic weapon fire erupted around them.

Secret service personnel piled out of the remaining Suburban, returning fire at the black clad attackers who were shooting at them. A second black van came from behind the flaming wreckage of the other Suburban. The secret service agents concentrated on engaging the attackers near Kevin's car and were almost oblivious to the van next to them. The windows on the van opened and the occupants inside opened fire with high powered assault rifles. In a matter of seconds, the secret service agents were gunned down.

Kevin Keeler had not had time to look up when he felt hands grabbing him out of his car. "Get down on the ground," several voices told him as they through him to the ground and began binding his arms behind him. He could Candace screaming on the other side of the car as they put a mask over his head that blocked his sight. Unable to see, he felt himself being lifted to his feet and being carried away.

The attackers fired several rounds into passing by cars and pedestrians to prevent any interference as they loaded the president's son and his companion into one of the vans and sped away.

_07:55:09 ... 07:55:10 ... 07:55:11 ..._

Secretary Heller, Jack Bauer and Audrey Raines were making their way through the crowd of people who were greeting and speaking with the president. Heller wanted to try and get the president away from them as soon as possible to give him the news about their apparently successful strike against the terrorist leaders.

It was an opportunity that Secretary Heller was not going to get. As he approached the president, he saw a sudden change in the demeanor of the secret service personnel, most notably the lead agent Aaron Pierce. He pressed his finger to his ear, listening intently to whatever was being said through his earpiece. "Copy that," Pierce acknowledged what had been said to him and then immediately began issuing commands. "Code 9, code 9, Quarterback has been hit!"

In an instant, the secret service agents surrounding the president sprang into action. Shielding him with their bodies, they immediately made for the doorway, pushing the crowd aside. Secretary Heller was also grabbed by his own secret service detail as was his daughter and they were also moved to the exit.

Jack Bauer had barely been able to hear Agent Pierce issuing a code 9 signal, an indication that there was an imminent threat to the president or first family. He hadn't even had time to consider what was happening when a secret service agent made his way through the chaotic crowd and approached him. "Mr. Bauer," the agent spoke loud enough to be heard over the panicked crowd. "Secretary Heller is requesting you sir, we have to move," with that, the agent grabbed Jack by the arm and the two ran for the exit.

Stepping outside, Jack watched as the presidential limousine and its escort vehicles were already pulling away from the building. He was immediately moved to the waiting limousine where another agent flung the door open and Jack quickly stepped inside. As soon as the door to the limousine was closed, the vehicle sped away. Jack hadn't even had time to be seated yet when the sudden acceleration of the car threw him into a seat next to Audrey who, along with Jack and Secretary Heller were the only occupants of the back of the vehicle.

Secretary Heller was already on his cellular phone, learning information about what was going on. Jack and Audrey both looked to him as he flipped the phone shut. He struggled for the words as he came to grip with the reality of the situation. "Kevin Keeler has been kidnapped. He was on a date when the secret service escort was ambushed. They're moving the president, vice president and key members of the cabinet to secure locations. There hasn't been any communication from the kidnappers."

Before either Jack or Audrey could speak, Secretary Heller was back on the phone. "This is Secretary Heller, put me through to the president."

To Jack Bauer, the timing of the terrorist attack against the president's son and the military action against the leaders of terrorist organizations was no coincidence. There was more going on than any of them realized. Reaching into his jacket pocket, he removed his cellular phone and flipped it open. Dialing the number for the Washington D. C. office of C. T. U. he was intent on getting the secretary information he would want before he asked for it. "This is Jack Bauer, special advisor to Secretary of Defense Heller, I need to speak with the ranking agent immediately."

_07:58:56 ... 07:58:57 ... 07:58:58 ..._

In the backseat of a limousine, Jack Bauer and Secretary Heller both waited patiently for their calls to be put through to their respective destinations.

Through the streets of Washington D. C., the presidential motorcade, followed shortly by a smaller motorcade belonging to the secretary of defense raced towards their destinations.

At the Washington D. C. office of C. T. U., phones were ringing and personnel scrambling to activate all necessary protocols to assist in locating the president's son and the terrorists responsible for his kidnapping. Susan Walker was flooded by phone calls and personnel asking questions of her while Jaelyn Vale busily worked on her computer.

In the backseat of a black van that was also racing through the streets of Washington D. C., Kevin and Candace were on their knees with their arms bound behind their back and masks over their faces, surrounded by terrorists brandishing assault rifles.

In the early morning dark skies above a country in the Middle East, four attack fighters maneuvered back to their aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf, having just completed a successful air strike. In the cockpit of the lead fighter, Navy lieutenant commander Gus Johnson watched his instrument displays carefully. Suddenly, a red warning indicator in his cockpit lit up and an alarm sounded. He knew this indicator had only one meaning, that radar had locked onto their plane. "Radar lock! Radar lock!" He announced into the communications system that linked him with the other three planes and the carrier.

In seconds, the three other pilots also reported that radar had locked onto them as well. Before Johnson could issue any orders, his radar screen began showing numerous new signatures which he knew could only be one thing. "Incoming surface to air missiles!" The squadron commander shouted as he looked at his radar. "Repeat incoming surface to air missiles. Evasive maneuvers! All pilots break left! Break left!"

_07:59:58 ... 07:59:59 ... 08:00:00_

**SCENES FROM THE NEXT EPISODE OF 24 ...**

**Heller: **Jack, I want you to go to C. T. U. and keep an eye on things.

**Keeler: **I need you to get me the Vice President.

**Jack: **You do whatever you have to do.

**Winters: **Who is your contact?!?

**Molina: **We're moving on the target now.

**Franklin: **Someone is going to pay the price for this.


	2. 8:00 PM to 9:00 PM

**The following takes place between 8:00 PM and 9:00 PM.**

_08:00:00 ... 08:00:01 ... 08:00:02 ..._

Escorted by marked police vehicles and unmarked secret service vehicles all displaying flashing red and blue lights, the presidential limousine raced across the highway. Local police were clearing a path for the motorcade, blocking every exit and on-ramp to prevent any possible attack against the president. In the few minutes since the president's son had been kidnapped, the air force had already scrambled F-16 attack fighters to patrol the airspace over the capital and they were alert for any airborne threat to the motorcade.

Inside the limousine, President John Keeler was visibly shaken. He was seated, holding in his head in his hands on his lap, fighting to hold back tears. He couldn't imagine how something like this could have happened and all he wanted to do was find someone to blame and find a way to get his son back. In his short time in office, his national security council had prepared responses and contingency plans for dozens of scenarios but the kidnapping of his son was one that he had never wanted to consider. What made the situation worse was that they did not even know who the kidnappers were or what their motivation was.

Seated across from the president were his chief of staff Robert Franklin and his national security advisor Elizabeth Griffon. Both were speaking on their cellular phones, Griffon with Secretary Heller who had just phoned from his own limousine and Franklin with the head of secret service. "Mr. President," Griffon was barely able to draw the president's attention away from his thoughts. The president looked up at his national security advisor with tear filled eyes. "Sir, I have Secretary Heller on the phone for you."

Keeler took two deep breaths and pulled himself together. He nodded and held out his hand to take the phone from Griffon. "Yes James," the president answered, his voice somber. He knew that the secretary of defense, his longtime friend would be able to hear the distress in his voice but he also knew James would be sympathetic to his situation.

Speaking from the backseat of his own limousine which was headed on a different path than the president's, Secretary Heller was the model of composure in a time of crisis. "Mr. President, I'm having secret service, DoD and C. T. U. activate all interagency protocols. Local police are setting up roadblocks on every possible road out of the city and C. T. U. is going to assume command of the search operations for your son." Knowing how difficult this situation had to be for the president, Heller tried to keep their conversation as business related as possible.

Hearing the composure and confidence in Heller's voice made Keeler feel slightly reassured. He knew that he had surrounded himself with the best people in choosing his cabinet and staff and he had done so especially for situations like this. "James, you make it clear to C. T. U. that they will have every resource at their disposal and they are to do whatever is necessary to track down these people and get my son back alive. I want you to be monitoring their progress every step of the way."

Secretary Heller had already believed that the president would give him such an order and had a plan in place to ensure that he was able to do so. "Mr. President, with your permission, one of my advisors, Jack Bauer, is a former C. T. U. agent with both field and administrative experience. I'd like to send him over to C. T. U. and have him monitor the situation on my behalf. While he's monitoring the situation at C. T. U. I can coordinate with the joint chiefs at the Pentagon."

President Keeler could barely think straight, all he wanted to know was that his son was going to be safe, he didn't care about the details of it. "Do whatever you need to do James, just get my son back safely." The president began to hang-up the phone but quickly stopped. "And James, place all of our military forces on alert and coordinate with the Department of Homeland Security on raising the threat level to red."

"Understood Mr. President," with the secretary's final answer, both he and the president flipped their cellular phones shut. In the secretary's limousine, seated next to Audrey Raines, Jack Bauer did not like what he had just heard. Working at C. T. U. had almost destroyed his life and he was just now beginning to rebuild it. After replacing the phone in the pocket of his tuxedo jacket, Heller turned and looked Bauer in the eyes. "Jack, I want you to go to C. T. U. and keep an eye on things for me. Make sure everything there is running smoothly."

As much as he knew going back to any office of C. T. U. would be difficult, he could not refuse any order from the secretary. "Understood Mr. Secretary, what type of authority will I have once I arrive there?" Jack could only imagine that whoever was in charge of C. T. U. would not take kindly to a representative from the secretary arriving in any type of capacity regardless of if he had any authority to make decisions. Based on the short conversation he had just had with Susan Walker on the phone, Jack did not suspect he would be given a warm welcome when he arrived.

"Officially, you'll be there as a representative of the Department of Defense to keep me informed of the progress that they are making in finding the president's son," Secretary Heller purposely kept his response to Jack's question vague. They both knew that it would be difficult for the secretary to give any sort of real authority to Jack without facing a dicey political situation and power struggle.

"And unofficially?" Jack Bauer already knew the secretary well enough to know that he was sending him to C. T. U. for other reasons than to just observe and report back.

For a moment, Heller thought about how best to answer that question. If there was one thing he wanted to avoid tonight, it was any sort of a power struggle at C. T. U. while the life of the president's son was hanging in the balance. "Let's just say that I want you to ensure that everything possible is being done to ensure the safe rescue of the president's son. If there should be any type of a conflict in what needs to be done, you give me a call."

"Yes sir," Jack understood his mission.

Heller reached into his jacket pocket and retrieved his cellular phone. Scrolling through the list of programmed numbers, he dialed one of the secret service Suburbans that was following his limousine. "Yes, one of my aides Jack Bauer needs a vehicle that he can use for transport to C. T. U." The secret service agent acknowledged his request and gave instructions. "Thank you," Heller flipped the phone shut and turned back to Jack. "We'll be pulling over in just a moment; you'll be given one of the secret service vehicles."

Once the secret service and local police escorting the secretary were sure that the roadway was clear, the motorcade stopped in the middle of the road. Jack exited the limousine as a secret service Suburban pulled to a stop along side it. The secret service agents quickly cleared the vehicle and began entering others as Jack stepped into the driver's seat. Making a u-turn in the middle of the road, the tires on the vehicle squealed as Jack pointed it towards the C. T. U. office. He watched in the rear view mirror as the secretary's motorcade again pulled away.

Jack was just out of site of the motorcade and speeding towards his destination when his cellular phone began vibrating in his jacket pocket. Retrieving it from his pocket, he saw on the display that it was the number from where Admiral MacDonald onboard the U. S. S. _Abraham Lincoln _had been contacting him with status updates. He had not anticipated hearing from the admiral so soon. "This is Bauer," Jack said as he pressed the phone to his ear.

The combat information center onboard the super carrier was a buzz with activity and the tone in Admiral MacDonald's voice did not hide the fact that he was concerned about their situation. "Mr. Bauer, this is Admiral MacDonald, we have a problem." That was not what Jack wanted to hear at this moment. It was bad enough that they had just suffered a terrorist attack against the president's son, now something had gone wrong with their military action.

"A few minutes ago our fighter squadron was attacked by surface to air missiles on its way back to the carrier." Jack could not believe what the admiral was telling him. Any attack against the F-18s would have had to have been fired from military forces of the government. "All of the fighters were shot down; they were unable to evade the shear number of missiles that were launched at them. Two of our pilots were able to bail out before their planes were destroyed. We're tracking their transponder signals now, I have Marine search and rescue teams are prepping to launch but I need authorization before I send them on to foreign soil."

The consequences of the events that were transpiring in the Middle East did not escape Jack Bauer. Military aircraft from the United States had bombed a target inside a Middle Eastern country and then those same aircraft were shot down, presumably by the country's military forces. Now, a navy admiral was asking for permission to send armed troops onto that country's soil. He wondered for a brief second if history would remember these as the opening steps to a war. "That's not a decision I can make," Jack felt his throat going suddenly dry. "I have to call the secretary."

"Get back to me as soon as you can, the Marines will be ready to launch in twelve minutes," with that, the admiral hung-up the phone and went back to his business at hand. In response to the F-18s being shot down, the carrier group was now on high alert, preparing for the rescue, the possibility of another attack against them and any reprisal the president may order.

Without anymore thinking, Bauer dialed Secretary Heller. 

Susan Walker moved purposefully across the main floor of the Washington office of C. T. U. The staff fluttered about around her, trying to bring all of their protocols up to speed as they took the lead in the search for the president's son. Prior to the abduction of the president's son, C. T. U. had only been running support protocols for other agencies and was not currently working any priority investigations.

"Jaelyn," Susan finished walking to Vale's station where the analyst was working on deploying their field teams. "How're you doing on calling in additional personnel?" In order to handle the search for Kevin Keeler, Walker had given authorization for additional analysts and field agents to be called into the office to handle the additional work load. Susan Walker had also asked Vale to contact James Sutton, the director of C. T. U.

"I've woken up about a dozen people so far and they're on their way in as fast as they can be," Vale continued working on the deployment grid on her computer as she briefed Susan on their status. "Division is also sending over some additional personnel and Director Sutton should be here within the hour," that made Susan feel slightly more comfortable. While she was capable of running C. T. U. under normal circumstances, things were entirely different during a crisis situation.

"Good," Susan took a moment to study the deployment of their field teams and agents as displayed on Jaelyn's screen. "What's the status of our field teams?" She believed it would take Vale less time to summarize the information than it would take for Susan to analyze it all on the computer screen.

"Forensics and two tactical teams just arrived at the location where Kevin Keeler was kidnapped," Vale pressed a few keys bringing up a different screen. "Winters, Molina and the other agents that were supporting secret service are mobilizing and should be standing by to receive orders in the next five minutes. We have two additional tactical teams gearing up and standing by here. All of our other field agents are standing by here at the office."

"Okay, tell forensics that the second they have anything," Susan's instructions to Vale were interrupted by another analyst.

"Ms. Walker, there's something on channel eight you should see," from his station, the analyst presses several keys that brought up the image on a larger display screen in the room. Susan Walker and Jaelyn Vale watched with interest as the image changed to that of a local news station. A lone female anchor dressed in a power suit was seated at the desk with the words 'Breakings News' flashing across the bottom of the screen.

"We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming to bring you this special report," the anchorwoman spoke coldly as she delivered the story. "Channel eight news has learned that Kevin Keeler, the son of President John Keeler has been kidnapped. This amateur cellular phone video shows a brutal gun battle between masked men and secret service agents," as the image shifted again, the entire staff of C. T. U. watched in stunned silence as the kidnapping of Kevin Keeler unfolded in a grainy cellular phone video.

_08:13:15 ... 08:13:16 ... 08:13:17 ..._

_08:17:22 ... 08:17:23 ... 08:17:24 ..._

Driving through the streets of Washington D. C. Jack Bauer kept his mind focused on the task that he would soon have to undertake, monitoring the operations at C. T. U. on behalf of the secretary of defense.

At C. T. U. Jaelyn Vale and Susan Walker frantically worked at computer stations next to each other on a thought that Vale had that may give them their first real lead in trying to locate the president's soon.

In the presidential limousine, that continued to maneuver on an evasive path around the streets of Washington D. C., President Keeler and his top staff listened as Secretary James Heller delivered disturbing news about the military action they had undertaken not even an hour beforehand. "As it stands Mr. President, we are tracking the transponders of two pilots who were able to bail out of their planes before the missiles hit. Admiral MacDonald is requesting permission to send in marine search and rescue teams to retrieve the pilots."

President Keeler was barely able to keep his mind on the task at hand. Seeing that he was having difficulty Elizabeth Griffon spoke up. "Mr. Secretary, this is Elizabeth," the two hand a long standing relationship and she knew he would recognize her by her first name and voice. "Do you think it might be better, given the diplomatic situation, to coordinate with the government and have their forces retrieve our pilots for us?"

Seated in his own limousine, nearing the Pentagon, Secretary Heller understood that this was not the situation the president wanted to be dealing with at this time even though it was one that required his attention and decision-making. "We have to operate under the assumption that it was the military forces of that country that shot down our fighters to begin with. I do recommend that we continue to work with them on diplomatic channels but I strongly advise against allowing our soldiers to fall into their hands."

"Mr. President," Franklin, who had been quietly listening to the information delivered by Heller finally spoke up. "We need a decision made, by now the marine search and rescue teams onboard the _Abraham Lincoln_ are ready to launch. The sooner we get those helicopters in the air, the sooner we'll be able to get our people back." Despite his chief of staff prompting him for a decision, President Keeler remained silent. When Franklin looked at him again, looking for an answer, he was able to tell that one was not going to come. "James, the president is struggling with the implications of sending troops onto foreign soil, we'll call you back in just a minute," Franklin then made a motion for the call to be terminated.

Having just listened to a briefing from his secretary of defense and having been unable to make a decision when one was needed, President Keeler came to a realization. "I can't do this," he said partially to himself and partially to his staff that was seated in the limo with him. "Not while my son is being held hostage, I can't be trusted to make decisions so long as he is being held." All of his staff was beginning to understand where the president was going with this. "Robert, I need you to get me the vice president on the phone. Also start having the White House counsel draft a letter where I will declare myself incapacitated under the 25th amendment until the crisis with my son is resolved."

What the president had just said shocked all of them. Robert Franklin was the first to respond, knowing he had to do what he could to keep the president from making that decision. "Mr. President that would be a severe mistake. You're only a few months into your presidency, if you appear weak at a time of crisis now, you can say goodbye to any hopes of a second term and to any hopes of having an effective presidency."

"Robert, I am not capable of making effective decisions as long as my son is in danger," Keeler knew that removing himself from power during this crisis would be a death blow to his young presidency but he felt as though he had to consider the well being of the American people before the well being of his presidency. "We'll deal with the political fallout from it after the crisis has passed."

Knowing he had only seconds to present a viable solution, the White House chief of staff thought quickly. "Mr. President, what if removing yourself from office wasn't necessary?" Keeler gave him a look that indicated that he was listening to what Franklin had to say. "We can have you onboard Air Force One and in the air within the next twenty minutes. This gives a convenient excuse to keep you out of the public eye until your son is found. Until the situation is resolved, allow Elizabeth, Secretary Heller and myself to make the important decisions on your behalf. That way it gives the appearance that the orders are coming from you and you don't appear weak in a time of national crisis. Once your son is located, you emerge with your presidency looking stronger than ever before."

President Keeler shook his head. He could not allow himself to be concerned with politics or the image of his presidency at the moment. "That's never going to work Robert. The American people are going to want to see leadership, they're going to want to see a stalwart figure standing firm against what is threatening this country and I can't give them that. Not to mention that no one is going to accept presidential orders without them coming from the president."

Robert Franklin would not accept that answer, not after he had worked for as long as he had to get John Keeler into office, it was now his duty to protect Keeler's presidency. "Mr. President, no one has to know that the orders are not coming from you and you will still officially be in charge. You'll only be deferring some of the decisions to some of your advisors and cabinet members. This allows you to maintain your office as well as your appearance to the public. Once you make it through this crisis, all of the country will know that you are capable of handling anything. Also Mr. President, quite frankly, Charles Logan is not the man that needs to be leading the country in a time like this."

President Keeler considered for a moment what his chief of staff was saying. He realized that, even with his approval rating as high as it was, his presidency would not survive if he were to turn over power to the vice president at the first sign of crisis. Although he did not like it, he knew that what his chief of staff was saying made sense. "Get me on the plane," following the president's instructions, Robert Franklin made a call on his cellular phone and the motorcade changed its path to Andrew's Air Force Base.

_08:21:27 ... 08:21:28 ... 08:21:29 ..._

Susan Walker was standing over Jaelyn Vale's shoulder as the young analyst busily worked on her computer. It did not take long for inspiration to strike Susan after seeing the grainy cellular phone video of Kevin Keeler's abduction displayed on the nightly news. After placing an emergency phone call to the network, the video was e-mailed to Vale's station and she was now in the process of running it through various image filters in an attempt to cleanup the video.

As Vale frantically typed on her keyboard, the images became clearer and clearer. Dragging a cursor along the screen, she clicked on the freeze frame image of one of the black vans as it sped off. "It's coming up now," Vale announced as she clicked on the van's license plate and the image became clearer. After another few seconds of running the image through filters, the license plate became readable. "I've got it!"

No sooner had Vale brought the enhanced and enlarged image onto the screen than Susan Walker grabbed the telephone at Vale's station and dialed an extension to another station on the main floor of C. T. U. "Kelly, I need a vehicle registration check on a license plate image that Vale is going to be sending to your system now," following her lead, Vale sent the image through the agency server to Kelly's station. On the phone, Susan continued giving instructions. "If the plate comes back clean, get a field team over to whatever address it is registered to. They wouldn't be stupid enough to keep Kevin Keeler there but it's the only lead we have."

Immediately after Walker hung the phone up, it rang again. Vale quickly reached over, picked up the receiver and placed it to her ear. "This is Vale," a slight pause as whoever was on the other end was speaking. "Okay, I'll tell her," she then replaced the phone on the cradle and looked at Susan. "Jack Bauer from DoD just arrived at security, he's being escorted in now."

Susan nodded. She had not necessarily been pleased when she was told that Secretary Heller was sending someone to C. T. U., especially someone with the reputation of Jack Bauer and she had her suspicions that James Sutton would also not be pleased by it. "Keep working on the video, there might be something else there besides the license plate that can give us a lead," after giving Vale her instructions, Susan walked away from Vale's station and headed to meet Bauer.

As he surveyed the main floor of C. T. U., Jack Bauer was surprised by how much it reminded him of the one he had worked at for so long in Los Angeles until only a few months ago. There were of course aesthetic differences but the basic layout and function of the main floor was basically the same as the Los Angeles office. What was unusual to him was the escort he was receiving from a C. T. U. security officer in a white uniform.

As he was halfway into the room, he was met by a woman he recognized as Susan Walker, one of the senior agents in this office. "Thank you Mike," she said with a slight nod and smile to the security officer who nodded, turned around and left. Susan then extended her hand to Jack who took it and shook it. "Susan Walker, special agent in charge," she paused. "For now at least," it would not be much longer before James Sutton arrived to assume command.

"Jack Bauer, Department of Defense," he knew that she had already been briefed on Secretary Heller sending him to C. T. U. and she already knew who he was. "If you could have someone get me a change of clothes," Jack commented in regards to the tuxedo he was still wearing. "I'll also need a secure phone and work station with access to DoD mainframes."

"I've already got it all setup at station five and I'll have some clothes sent up for you," she gestured towards the computer station and began leading the way towards it with Jack following her. As they walked, Susan felt the need to address some concerns. "Mr. Bauer, I have to ask, what exactly did Secretary Heller intend for your function to be here?"

Jack wished he knew the answer to that question. When the secretary had given him his instructions, he had left his purpose and authority at C. T. U. rather vague and he was certain that this was done on purpose. As they reached the work station, Jack quickly surveyed it as he gave his answer. "I'm here to keep Secretary Heller and the president advised on the status of the search for his son and any possible rescue operations."

Susan Walker was no fool and recognized that Jack gave a rather vague answer. She had no doubt that the secretary had given Bauer more responsibility and authority that he was letting on. Jack Bauer, knowing how he would feel in Susan's situation, could read the uneasiness on her face. "Secretary Heller made it clear that you are to have any and all resources of the government at your disposal. If you need anything from DoD, I can probably get it a lot faster for you than going through standard channels."

Before Susan could say anything else, Kelly, the young Asian analyst that she had tasked with running the vehicle registration check on the van involved in the kidnapping approached her from behind. "Ms. Walker, the registration check on that vehicle has it registered to a used car dealership. The vehicle hasn't been reported stolen so I sent Winters and Molina to check the dealership, they might be able to turn up some kind of records."

Susan nodded. This sounded like more of a shot in the dark than something that may turn up anything substantial but it was the only lead they had and they had to look into it. "All right, tell Vale I want her running comm. when Winters and Molina arrive at the dealership. How long should it take them to get there from the fundraiser location?"

"They were already mobile and are on their way, no more than ten minutes."

Secretary of Defense James Heller was moving through the mostly empty corridors of the Pentagon towards what was affectionately described as the 'War Room', a type of master situation area where he could monitor and coordinate all of their efforts and resources. His daughter, Audrey Raines was at his side and they were followed by a handful of aides, two secret service agents and a team of military guards.

"Audrey, I want you to compile a list of every known air to ground missile launcher in that country as well as their last known locations. Once you have that, I want the names and profiles of the generals in command of every one of those launchers. If this was some kind of rogue military action on the part of their country, we might be able to pin it down to a specific general that was responsible and only consider his forces hostile," Secretary Heller knew the possible implications of their attack fighters being shot down over the country. If the action was sanctioned by the government, a perpetual state of war now existed between the two countries.

Audrey nodded as she quickly memorized the instructions he had given to her. "Are you considering the option of some sort of a reprisal attack?" Audrey knew well enough how her father thought and knew he was probably thinking several steps ahead of their current situation.

"All I'm worried about now is getting those two pilots out of there and to do so safely we may have to neutralize some threats," the secretary's tone of voice left no doubt that he was not ruling out any sort of military action.

As two camouflage clad soldiers opened the door to the war room for him and his entourage, the secretary was greeted by several generals and admirals who rose to their seats and stood at attention. The secretary quickly motioned for them to be seated again. "Thank you for coming at such a late hour, please give me an update on the situation in the Middle East."

"Mr. Secretary, we've taken the liberty of preparing a targeting package," Tom Ellis, an Air Force general who was the senior officer in the room began delivering a briefing. He pressed several buttons on a keyboard in front of him. On a large display screen at the center of the room, a topographical map of the country appeared with several locations marked. "These are all of the surface to air launchers and radar stations in the area that will need to be neutralized to reduce the risk to our search and rescue helicopters. Admiral MacDonald has an F-18 strike wing fired up and we have F-15s at our airbase in Saudi prepared to launch as well. Once they're in the air, search and rescue will launch and will have a clear path to our downed pilots once those launchers and radars are taken out."

James Heller did not like the situation. He had received a call from President Keeler before arriving at the Pentagon when the president told him that he needed to make all of the military decisions for the immediate time until the president told him otherwise but this did not feel like a decision he should make without the president. After weighing all of his options, he made his decision. "Launch our fighters and the search and rescue teams but I want you to specify that weapons are on hold until the president can speak with Prime Minister Abarazai." Reaching for the phone on the desk, Heller prepared to make the call.

_08:29:11 ... 08:29:12 ... 08:29:13 ..._

_08:34:44 ... 08:34:45 ... 08:34:46 ..._

In the war room at the Pentagon, Secretary Heller, Audrey Raines and several generals, admirals and staffers monitored the developing situation in the Middle East as American warplanes launched from an airbase in Saudi Arabia and the U. S. S. _Abraham Lincoln_ in the Persian Gulf.

Onboard Air Force One, which was now only minutes from take off, President Keeler sat in his private office with Robert Franklin and Elizabeth Griffon. On the speaker phone, he was waiting to be connected to Prime Minister Abarazai to speak with him about the planes that had been shot down over his country.

In the Washington D. C. office of the Counter Terrorist Unit, Jack Bauer had finished changing from his tuxedo into a blue shirt with yellow tie and black suit. He now stood with Susan Walker near Jaelyn Vale's station as they were preparing to monitor communications from Christian Winters and Alexis Molina.

Across the street from the rather large and extravagant used car dealership, Christian Winters brought the black Ford Expedition he was driving to a stop and quickly turned off the headlights. Seated across from him, Alexis Molina, who had changed out of her party dress and into more field operations appropriate clothing, had removed her USP compact pistol from its holster and was checking to make sure a round was chambered. Winters did the same with his USP pistol and then placed a communications device in his ear. "This is Winters, communications check," he received a loud and clear signal from Jaelyn Vale at C. T. U. and was told that there operation was a go.

As Winters checked their communications with C. T. U., Alexis scanned the used car dealership using a night vision monocular. Nothing appeared to be out of the ordinary and aside from the flapping of banners and streamers in the night breeze, she did not see any movement. "Looks clear," she said with a glance towards Winters. "How do you want to play this?" There were several options for how they could move in on the dealership. While they did not expect any sort of a threat or to find any sort of information here, it never hurt to handle things cautiously.

"Front door," Winters said plainly as he opened the door the SUV and stepped outside, closing the door behind him. Both agents wore their gold badges on chains around their necks and their pistols were in holsters on their wastes concealed underneath jackets. Traffic was light as they made their way across the street. It took them only a few seconds to move through the rows of parked cars towards the main office. It was a large two story building with massive glass windows that allowed them to look in on the showroom floor.

The lights were off inside the building and the only things they could see were the lights in the parking lot reflecting off the cars inside the building. They both moved to the double front doors. Winters pulled on the door and found that it was locked. As he removed his multi-tool from his jacket pocket and began picking the lock, Molina shined her flashlight inside the building trying to see anything else. In the short time it took Winters to pick the lock, she had managed to study the layout of the building and determine the likely location of the main offices where they would find records on all of the vehicles owned by the company.

As he finished picking the lock, Winters replaced the multi-tool in his pocket and drew his pistol and flashlight as they entered the building. When they entered the building, both agents shined their flashlights around, surveying the interior and scanning for possible threats while they kept their pistols in a low position. Using hand signals, Molina indicated to Winters which way the offices were and he followed her lead. They made their way to a long narrow hallway that was lined with closed wooden doors on each side.

They split the hallway up, Winters checking for unlocked doors on the left and Molina checking for unlocked doors on the right. When they were halfway down the hallway, Winters noticed a door open near the end of the hall. He remained silent, indicating it to Molina with hand signals. They slowly approached it, keeping their weapons ready, prepared for almost anything.

In a split second, they were taken by surprise. As they stealthily approached the door, a man came running out of the room, gave the two agents a quick glance and ran down the hallway in the opposite direction of Winters and Molina. "Federal agents stop!" Winters said as he began running after the fleeing man.

Molina followed in the pursuit also and was hastily speaking with C. T. U. as she ran after Winters and the fleeing subject. "C. T. U. this Molina, we're in pursuit of one subject running on foot." As they ran, the subject burst through a set of double metal doors at the end of the hallway that led to a maintenance garage. Winters and Molina were slowly gaining on the man and he was doing everything possible to try to avoid capture by the two agents, running around cars and other obstacles and knocking objects down as he ran past them.

As he approached another door that Winters and Molina could assume led to the outside, he took advantage of the few seconds he had gained and used them to topple over a large, red metal toolbox in front of the door as he ran through it. Winters used all of the speed he had gained and hurdled the toolbox, clearing it in a single jump as did Molina but it did slow them down more. "Subject is in the open, subject is in the open!" Winters spoke hoping C. T. U. was already acting.

At the office, Jaelyn Vale ran her fingers over her keyboard. "I'm bringing up satellite tracking over that area now," a window opened on her computer screen displaying night vision satellite feed of the used car dealership. Jack, Susan and Jaelyn were able to watch was the subject ran across the parking lot, pursued by their agents. "We've got good satellite coverage of the area, even if he gets to a vehicle, he won' make it far."

"You need to reroute a tactical team to that area now," Jack Bauer did not leave any question in his tone of voice that he was issuing an order and not a request. He also did not have any question in his mind that Susan Walker would not take kindly to him giving her orders, especially when he had no official capacity to do so.

"I'm handling this Mr. Bauer," Susan said as she continued to watch the satellite feed on Vale's computer screen. It took her a moment to realize that Jack was of course right but she did not like the idea of him giving orders. "Jaelyn, reroute our closest tactical team to that area and also have Metro P. D. on their way as. I want roads blocked in a mile radius if he makes it to a vehicle." Without hesitation, she reached for her phone and began issuing the commands that had just been given to her.

Across the dimly lit parking lot, Winters and Molina were again closing on the fleeing subject. He approached a parked car, an older model brown passenger car, and began fumbling for keys in his pocket. The two federal agents were quickly gaining on him when he managed to get the door to the vehicle open. He quickly reached inside and as he brought his hand up, both the agents saw a nickel-plated pistol in it.

"Gun!" Winters announced as he instinctively grabbed Molina and pulled her behind one of the other parked cars, establishing some degree of cover for them. Three shots rang out in the dark of night as the subject used the door of his vehicle for cover. Winters and Molina hesitated to return fire. There were any number of possible explanations to who this unknown man was and why he had fired on them but they could not run the risk of killing their only possible lead in the abduction of Kevin Keeler.

Three more shots struck the vehicle they were using for cover and Alexis Molina knew that they could only have a matter of seconds before the subject attempted to flee and they could possibly move him. Quickly studying the distance between herself and the subject as well as the angles, she formulated a plan. "Can you draw his fire?" She asked, quickly glancing at Winters.

Although they had not worked together for very long, Christian Winters was relatively sure he knew what she was planning. He gave his response with a single nod and then made his move. Moving out into the open and quickly sidestepping from the vehicle he was hiding behind to another vehicle, Winters fired several rounds from his pistol at the vehicle the subject was using for cover. He did not intend for them to hit the subject but the rounds did serve their purpose.

Viewing Winters as more of a threat, the subject moved slightly to return fire, keeping himself covered from Winters but exposing himself slightly to Molina. Carefully steadying her aim, she pulled the trigger, aimed and pulled the trigger again. In a split seconds, the bullets found their mark, the first tearing through the subject's hand, causing him to drop the gun and the second hitting his foot. He fell to the ground in pain and, with the sirens of approaching police cruisers in the background, Winters and Molina moved in on the subject.

Accepting defeat, he knew he was in no condition to fight the two federal agents and did not make any moves that would appear hostile as they approached him. Instead, with his good hand, he reached for a small device in the pocket of his pants. Winters was in direct view of the subject as he approached, keeping his gun trained on him. "Federal agents! Put your hands on top of your head!" He had pressed the three necessary buttons on the device and left it in his pocket. "Put your hands on your head now!" Winters again ordered. The man complied, placing his hands on top of his head as he winced from the pain of the two gunshot wounds.

While Winters kept the man covered, Molina moved in and secured the subject in handcuffs. "What are you doing here?" Molina did not waste anytime in beginning to question the man who had just ran from and fired at them. Waiting for a brief second for an answer that she did not receive, Molina placed her fingers around the man's injured hand and squeezed on the gunshot wound causing him to shiver from the pain. "What are you doing here?!?"

"Getting rid of files," the man struggled to speak through the pain and his voice shook. "Destroying any evidence," both of the C. T. U. agents were surprised at how easily he gave up the information. It was now becoming more and more clear that this man and something at this dealership were somehow involved with the kidnapping of the president's son.

"C. T. U. this is Winters," he knew that they would need additional resources now that they had almost confirmed a link to the kidnapping. "We have the subject in custody, we're going to need a forensics team here immediately with at least one computer analyst. We have a possible link between the files in this dealership and the kidnapping of Kevin Keeler."

The deafening sound of a massive explosion from behind them and the shockwave sent both agents to the ground next to the restrained suspect. Christian Winters made it to his feet as pieces of glass and debris fell to the ground around them, having been blown into the air by the fireball that ripped through the dealership. He turned around to see all that was left of the building were pieces of the metal frame with everything inside and around it burning. As Alexis Molina made it to her feet, she looked down at the suspect who could only smile.

Onboard Air Force One, which was undergoing its final preparations for takeoff, President Keeler, Robert Franklin and Elizabeth Griffon listened on the speakerphone as Prime Minister Abarazai delivered an explanation for why the American planes that had attacked a terrorist target in his country had been shot down. "Mr. President, I again express my condolences for the loss of your pilots. Let me assure you that the targeting of your aircraft was not authorized by my government."

"Then explain to me Mr. Prime Minister why our satellite imagery clearly shows that the missiles that destroyed those planes and killed two of our pilots were launched from your military," President John Keeler spoke with an equal measure of both ferocity and authority.

There was hesitation on the part of the prime minister. This told the president and his two advisors that there was something he was hiding and did not want to reveal about the actual reason behind the shooting down of their warplanes. "Mr. President, the renegade factions of our military that were responsible for those attacks, will be brought to justice, I assure you of that."

John Keeler was not a man who liked being lied to. Having already been briefed by James Heller on their plan to knockout surface to air weapons and radar to clear the way for the rescue, the president was beginning to see this as the best option. "If they are a renegade faction of your military Mr. Prime Minister, then I'll save you the trouble. We're going in to get our pilots back and if you don't power down all of your radar stations and disarm your surface to air missiles, we will do it for you." The president then pressed a button on his phone that ended the call.

Sitting in his desk, holding his head in the palm of one of his hands, the president was having difficulty maintaining his composure. Although he had granted his top advisors authority to make decisions on his behalf, he was the only one the prime minister would listen to and that was done, for now at least. Glancing up at Franklin and Griffon, the president spoke, "Could you two give me a minute please?"

Without saying anything, they left the president's office, closing the door behind them. "Do you really think launching a massive bombing campaign against that country is the right way to play this?" Griffon asked Franklin. Although she knew they had to assure the safety of their search and rescue teams, to her it seemed a better option for them to try to work with the country's government to rescue them safely.

It did not take Robert Franklin long to consider the circumstances. "It's not hard to tell that Prime Minister Abarazai is lying about the circumstances of our planes being shot down. What this boils down to Elizabeth is that four Navy warplanes were shot down and two pilots our dead." He looked around and lowered his voice to make sure no one was eavesdropping on their conversation. "Someone is going to pay the price for this."

_08:46:52 ... 08:46:53 ... 08:46:54 ..._

_08:50:19 ... 08:50:20 ... 08:50:21 ..._

With five F-16 attack fighter escorts already in the air above it, Air Force One was beginning to taxi onto the runway at Andrew's Air Force Base, preparing to lift off. All necessary steps had been completed and all precautions were in place to ensure the safety of the president and his staff once they were in the air.

In the war room at the Pentagon, Secretary of Defense James Heller spoke with two generals while reviewing a file in his hand that stated the military capabilities of the country where their pilots had been shot down. They all knew time was becoming critical and the situation was becoming more and more charged.

Outside the remains of a burning car dealership, Christian Winters and Alexis Molina, along with local police and C. T. U. tactical and forensics teams stood patiently by while a tactical medic bandaged the two gunshot wounds their suspect had sustained. They knew he had more information but what that information involved and how easily he would give it was the difficult question.

Scanning through files on a computer at her office at the Pentagon, Audrey Raines was focused on gathering the information her father had requested on the military capabilities and generals of Prime Minister Abarazai's country. As she scanned through the various sources of intelligence, including reports from the Central Intelligence Agency and satellite imagery from the National Security Agency, Audrey tried to remain focused on her work.

As she compiled the necessary data, she took a moment to look away from the computer screen and rub her eyes with her hand. Her eyes were sore and they were growing heavy. It had been a very long day and was now only promising to get longer. As she was preparing to go back to work, the phone in her office rang. She allowed it to ring a couple of times before reaching to pick it up. "Department of Defense, Audrey Raines speaking," her voice did not hide her fatigue.

_"Hi,"_ she recognized the voice of her husband, Paul Raines on the other end of the phone call. _"I know you must be busy, with everything going but,"_ Paul hesitated, having difficulty to find the words he was looking for. There was silence between them for a moment as both of them wanted to say things that neither could find the words to say.

Growing tired of listening to silence and knowing she had a great deal of work to do in a short amount of time, Audrey finally spoke up. "Listen Paul, I have a lot of work to do so," Paul cut her off.

_"I know, Audrey I know, I just,"_ he again struggled for the words. _"I just wanted to say that I'm sorry about the other day, I said some things I shouldn't have, some things that I didn't mean."_ He paused for another moment. _"Audrey, the last thing I want in the world is to lose you."_

Audrey allowed herself a smile. Paul had the capability of being very sincere when he chose to. "I don't want that either," she fought back a single tear. She could not deny that they had been having their share of problems but she never felt like it they were something they couldn't work through. "Listen Paul, I need to get back to work but I'll call you as soon as I can."

_"Okay and Audrey, I love you."_

"I love you too."

The medic assigned to the C. T. U. tactical team had field dressed the injuries the suspect who still remained unidentified. Knowing that every second counted, Winters and Molina had him restrained in the back of one of the C. T. U. vans and were preparing to conduct a field interrogation on him. They had already searched him for any form of identification or other evidence and discovered nothing. His fingerprints had been sent to Kelly who was running them through various databases. Winters and Molina waited outside the van as Winters dialed the office on his cellular phone.

At the office, Jack Bauer joined Susan Walker in a secure conference room where they took the call from Winters on a speakerphone. "Agents Winters, this is Susan Walker, you're also on the line with Jack Bauer from the Department of Defense. Give us an update on what's going on over there."

Winters wished he had better news to report to them. "Forensics hasn't uncovered anything yet in the remains of the building. All we know so far is what the suspect told us, that he was here to destroy some sort of evidence which we can assume the explosion took care of. With your permission I want to begin a field interrogation as soon as possible."

A field agent herself, Susan Walker knew exactly what he meant by that and knew that he would use any and all necessary means to extract information from the suspect. Still, she had her doubts about the effectiveness of it in this case. "We don't know who this man is Christian and we don't know a thing about him. It might be faster to bring him back here so we can use a chemical interrogation method on him."

"Ms. Walker we don't have time for that," Jack Bauer spoke up quickly and harshly. His sudden outburst drew a disdainful look from Walker on the other side of the conference table. "It'll take at least forty-five minutes to get him back here and begin a chemical interrogation and for all we know Kevin Keeler may not have that long!" Without waiting for any approval from her, Jack leaned closer to the phone to speak with Winters. "Agent Winters, this is Jack Bauer, please know that I am speaking with the authority of the secretary of defense. You do whatever you have to do in order to break that man and find out anything he knows, is that clear?"

Winters hesitated. He had never met this man named Jack Bauer and was not entirely clear about what authority he had in this matter. Not to mention the fact that Bauer and Susan Walker did not entirely seem to be seeing eye to eye on this matter. As Bauer and Walker silently stared at each other across the table, Bauer did not wait for her approval of his plan. "Is that clear Agent Winters?!?" Bauer demanded again.

"Yes sir," Winters finally gave in. He also felt that a field interrogation would be the best and fastest approach but he was obliged to follow orders. "I'll get back to you when we have something." Flipping his phone shut and placing it back in his jacket pocket, Winters turned to Molina who was waiting near the back door of the van. "We're on," he said to her as he stepped towards the van.

They opened the back door the van and both agents stepped inside, Winters sitting in front of the suspect and Molina sitting to his side, pulling the door closed behind her as she sat down. "Start talking," Winters said to him plainly. "You tell us what type of evidence was in that building and if it has anything to do with the kidnapping of Kevin Keeler. You talk to me and I might be able to help you." Winters began the interrogation slow and methodically, trying to determine if the suspect's self-preservation instincts would compel him to divulge what he knew. The suspect remained silent and Winters continued his questioning. "Tell me who you are working for and if they have any connection to the kidnapping of Kevin Keeler."

With the suspect still remaining quiet, both Winters and Molina knew that they would have to escalate their tactics in order to gain cooperation from him more quickly. Winters looked at Molina and nodded. Moving quickly, she reached into her pocket and retrieved an automatic opening knife. Pressing a button on the metal handle, the blade popped open. Winters moved fast as well, placing the suspect in a headlock so he would be unable to struggle. Molina brought the blade up to the man's face and barely pressed the tip of it against the skin on his cheek. The suspect's breathing quickened and Winters could feel him shuddering as he restrained him.

"Listen to me very carefully," Winters whispered in the man's ear as he continued to hold him in a headlock. "The first thing we're going to do is cut you, not enough to let you die from blood loss; just enough for it to hurt like hell. Then we're going to start with you fingers, then your toes, and then your eyes. If you're still conscious after that, we're just going to keep cutting but eventually you are going to tell me what you know!" He allowed the man a few seconds to consider his fate. "Start talking now!"

"All ... all ... all I do is," the suspect was terrified and his voice trembled as he tried to speak. He finally managed to compose himself enough to be able to speak somewhat coherently. "All I was supposed to do was get the vans, I, I don't know what they were going to do with them, I was just supposed to get the vans and get rid of the evidence. They told me I had to blow up the building, that was the only way to be sure there would be no records that could be traced back to us."

Winters did not doubt that the suspect was telling the truth but he also could tell that he was holding some other critical information back. "What's the name of your contact?" Winters asked the question calmly with Molina still holding the tip of the blade against the suspect's face. He did not respond. "Who is your contact?!?" The suspect again did not respond and Winters knew that they would again have to escalate their tactics. Winters nodded to Molina. A few seconds later, outside of the van, all that could be heard were screams.

Jack Bauer left the conference room heading back to his workstation with Susan Walker following close behind him. "Jack," she spoke once softly with no response. "Mr. Bauer," she said slightly louder and causing him to turn around to look at her. She approached to within a short distance of him and whispered, not wanting the rest of the staff to overhear a disagreement between the two of them. "What you did in there was out of line. Secretary Heller may have sent you here but I'm still in charge of C. T. U. until officially relieved by Director Sutton or someone else with the authority to do so and that's definitely not you."

Knowing that he was right in doing what he did, Jack Bauer was not prepared to let someone speak to him that way. "It was the right decision Ms. Walker and it needed to be made. If you have a problem with how I handled a situation, feel free to call my boss and discuss it with him. Otherwise, we have a lot of work to do." Knowing it was not an argument she was going to win, Susan Walker walked away to return to her station.

_08:58:14 ... 08:58:15 ... 08:58:16 ... _

Air Force One glided off the runway and ascended into the air above the skies of Washington D. C. Inside his private office, President John Keeler sat along, trying to hold himself together through the course of this evening's events. Outside his office in a conference room, Robert Franklin, Elizabeth Griffon and others reviewed the information the Pentagon had sent them about the downed pilots.

In a black C. T. U. van parked outside the remains of a once extravagant used car dealership, Alexis Molina slowly moved her knife down the suspect's cheek, blood oozing from the fresh cut. Christian Winters continued to press him for information about whom he was working for and he still refused to provide him with anything.

At the Washington D. C. office of the Counter Terrorist Unit, Jack Bauer, Susan Walker, Jaelyn Vale and others all busily worked on their computers and attended to phone calls. Information was coming through on Vale's screen from Kelly about the identity of the man Winters and Molina had in custody. After quickly scanning the information, she sent it to a nearby printer.

In the war room at the Pentagon, James Heller and others watched the continually unfolding situation on the massive display screen in the room. It displayed the location of the two pilots who had successfully managed to parachute to safety as well as the locations of the search and rescue helicopters from the U. S. S. _Abraham Lincoln_. Also displayed on over the topographical map of the country were the locations of the F-15 and F-18 fighters that had been launched to cover the operation. If the secretary gave the order, those warplanes would be tasked with destroying that country's radar and surface to air missile installations so that a successful rescue of the downed pilots could be mounted.

"Mr. Secretary," General Ellis spoke from across the room, holding a phone in one hand. He had just received a call with some very interesting news. "Sir, N. S. A. just confirmed that all radar and surface to air installations within the vicinity that could pose a danger to our search and rescue choppers are shutting down. Prime Minister Abarazai has told our ambassador that we have free authority to retrieve our downed pilots."

There was a collective sigh of relief in the room as the news was delivered and even James Heller allowed himself the slightest smile. "All right then, tell those pilots that they are to still engage should any radar lock onto themselves or the rescue helicopters. Then tell Admiral MacDonald that the rescue mission is a go and to get our boys home safe."

As the generals went about their work relaying the secretary's order, another Pentagon staffer entered the room and made a straight line for the secretary. "Mr. Secretary, you need to see this sir," he handed him a simple manila folder with the words classified printed in red letters across the front of it. "It's pertaining the strike against the building where the terrorist leaders were supposed to have been meeting."

Wasting no time, the secretary flipped the folder open and was shocked at the images he saw and the information he read. Taking a minute to compose himself and consider the possible implications of this, she slammed the folder shut before announcing to himself, "We were wrong."

_08:59:57 ... 08:59:58 ... 08:59:59 ... 09:00:00_

**On the next episode of '24' - **James Sutton takes command of C. T. U. and seeks guidance from Jack Bauer; the terrorists holding Kevin Keeler deliver their demands; James Heller must deal with a shocking revelation; Winters and Molina's investigation leads them to a domestic terrorist group.


End file.
